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A Massachusetts Certified Public Accountant will be sentenced in September for participating in a fraud scheme, swindling nearly $20 million from commercial lenders, including two credit unions that lost more than $7.4 million.

Christine Gendron, 61, of Feeding Hills pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud in U.S. District Court in Springfield last week, federal prosecutors said.

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Gendron worked as the financial manager for JLL Realty Developers LLC (JLLRD), a limited liability company for which her sister, Jeannette Norman, and brother-in-law, Mark G. Masaschi, served as partners. Masaschi, 59, pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two felony counts of wire fraud and one felony count of aggravated identity theft in April. He is scheduled to be sentenced in July.

Norman pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of wire fraud in May 2023.

Gendron conspired with Masaschi and Norman to defraud various commercial lenders and financial institutions, including the $739 million Freedom Credit Union in Springfield and the $2.4 billion Workers Credit Union in Littleton.

From 2016 to 2019, they attempted to steal more than $60 million from 20 commercial lenders. Court documents, however, showed the actual total loss amounted to $19,305,473.

Freedom CU lost $5,370,037 on a $6,250,000 loan and Workers CU lost $2,043,444 on a $11,500,000 loan, accounting for 38% of the total loss, according to court documents.

“We were part of a group of six participating CUs from across the country involved in this loan. The dollar amount shown was the shared loss,” Freedom CU President/CEO Glenn Welch said in a prepared statement. Workers CU declined to comment.

To obtain loans for their companies, Masaschi, Gendron and allegedly Norman provided materially fraudulent financial information, including fabricated rental income and forged lease agreements for properties in Massachusetts and Connecticut, according to court documents. After receiving the loans, Masaschi and allegedly Norman and their companies made some or no payments and ultimately defaulted on the loans.
Masaschi and allegedly Norman managed multiple LLCs, including JLLRD, through which they owned mostly commercial and some residential real estate.

Peter Strozniak can be reached at [email protected].

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Peter Strozniak

Credit Union Times reporter covering credit union operations, fraud, M&As, leagues, business continuity, and breaking news.